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Earthly Pleasures: Tales from a Biologist's Garden
Book by Swain, Roger B.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 20, 2017
Really enjoyed the short story style of each chapter and the nicely flowing prose. Great short read and learned a few things too. Now I'm going to grow some turnips!
February 15, 2021
Delightful!
March 5, 2022
I really enjoy Roger B. Swain's writing style, in addition to the content. First published in 1978.
July 9, 2014
This is enjoyable just as a set of straightforward, often charming, essays on natural history. Beyond that, Swain has taken his personal observations of everyday nature and used them as seeds to develop a discussion of the underlying science. He considers the environmental value of woodchucks, the growth of duckweed, how nut trees may have evolved to reduce predation, and how rot occurs in foods. In these commonplace examples, Swain examines adaptations and how evolution might have shaped that feature or behavior. This is a readable book, encouraging us to think more deeply about what surrounds us.
May 22, 2016
635 Natural History essays - "You can't hurry maple syrup," writes Roger B. Swain at the beginning of Earthly Pleasures. As with Swain's home-brewed syrup, no reader should hurry through this classic collection of delightful and authoritative musings on the importance of duckweed, the impertinence of woodchucks, the vulnerability of backyard trees to lightning - and many other "everyday" intrigues of the natural world.
August 22, 2016
He writes essays like a poet. His written words make you see things differently.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews